


Make babies, not war

by latenightreader



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-26 07:16:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2642933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/latenightreader/pseuds/latenightreader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Octavia and Clarke accidentally incite a moment of girl power and Bellamy is the only one who really understands the implications.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make babies, not war

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first posting. It's just a one-shot that fits somewhere during the Unity Day campfire (1x09) but before the crash of the exodus ship. 
> 
> And, holy crap I'm unreasonably nervous to post this.

Clarke rarely drank any of Monty’s moonshine but after flirting with Bellamy she felt she needed at least one. This batch smelled strong, like cough syrup. In the back of her mind she doubted if it was a good idea to let a bunch of teens drink to their hearts’ content when they knew a war was coming. It could be tomorrow after all. Then again, she knew that they all needed to blow off a little steam. And in the few weeks they had been down there most of them had pulled back from all night drinking fests to a more moderate habit. No one wants to barf up their last meal when they don’t know where the next one is coming from she though ruefully. 

So she took a cautious sip of the brew in her cup. Monty said he’d tried some berries and herbs to make it taste more like a punch and she had to agree. From the one party she’d attended on the Ark, he’d done a good job. 

Looking across the clearing she saw Octavia, Raven, Finn, and Jasper on the far side of the fire. She hesitated to join the group, seeing Finn was there. Beyond them she saw Miller on watch on the wall. After telling her to have fun Bellamy had disappeared too, but she was sure he was somewhere along the wall. Monroe and Sterling where attempting to roast something stuck on the ends of sticks and a bunch of the younger teens were playing some kind of dice game they’d invented. Octavia caught her eye and waved her over. What the heck thought Clarke, and she crossed to join the group, despite the cozy picture made by Raven and Finn. Raven sat half across his lap and lazily fed nuts to him from a little pile in her own lap. 

Clarke settled on the ground beside Octavia, where she couldn’t see the happy couple. “Hey” Octavia gave her a friendly shoulder nudge “You ready to defend the camp, when the time comes?” Clarke nodded and took another sip. She was scared shitless about what was coming, but she’d do whatever it took to keep them alive. 

“You?”

Octavia sighed. “I suppose I am. I have a life to live with Lincoln and I want to survive to see it. So I’m going the be the fiercest bitch on the field. You just wait.” Clarke had no doubt. 

From the other side of Octavia she heard Raven’s agreement too. “Here, Here. To kicking ass!” The fearsome girl called. A chorus of voices chimed in and cups were raised high. For a while they chewed the fat about how they were going to succeed in battle and Clarke couldn’t help but think that their ancient Earth ancestors had probably done the same thing since time immortal. In fact, the Grounders were probably doing the exact same thing in their village right now. 

Someone had started playing on a wooden flute (the notes weren’t perfectly pitched but the music was welcome anyways) and someone else started lightly drumming on a log. The sun began to set and the group got rowdier. Several couples were dancing in an open area to the side, including Raven and Finn, who were locked together from lips to hips to toes. A pang of jealousy hit Clarke right in her middle. “Yeah Reyes!” cried Octavia egging them on. “Sorry Clarke…gotta cheer on the continuation of the human race.” Clarke nodded silently. 

“You do know that it takes more than kissing to get pregnant, right Octavia?” She asked. Suddenly she occurred to her that she had no idea how long Octavia had been imprisoned on the ark. Maybe she’d never had any sex ed. 

Octavia snorted. “Of course I know that Clarke. Bell did explain these things to me a long time ago. I, um, I don’t have an implant so I had to talk to Lincoln about it too.” Octavia wiggled her eyebrows “And I think I’ve filled in the details in the last few weeks.” A slight blush colored her cheeks. ”Maybe I should be asking you if YOU know how to get babies made.” Octavia’s implication was clear. 

“I know how.” Clarke said flatly. She did not want to give the details. She did not want to ruin a nice buzz talking about Finn. But, she thought, it’s a shame that many of them were likely to die before they even had the chance to experience sex…although looking around her she wondered if she was just about the only one not getting it on a regular basis. It suddenly seemed a waste to be here on earth and not begin repopulating it. 

Octavia’s giggles caught Jasper’s interest. “Wanna have my babies and repopulate the Earth?” He leaned over to ask Octavia. “Good luck there buddy.” Thought Clarke. But Octavia turned to Clarke with a laugh “I’m taken but Princess here could use a good roll in the hay. Do you think you’re man enough for her? Jasper laughed. “Sorry Clarke, I might be man enough for you, but I am not man enough to duel with the King.” “What the fuck is that about?” thought Clarke. The goofy grin on his face told Clarke he was only joking but it was enough to break her out of her morose mood. 

“I’ll make a few babies with you handsome knight, but you’re going to have to dig the implant out of my arm first.” She quipped. 

A confused look passed his gawky features. “Implant?” Gosh, some of these kids are sooo young thought Clarke. Octavia saved her from having to explain. “Yeah, you know all the girls have them, right? That’s why no one has gotten pregnant, we all get them when we first,,, you know, on the ark.” 

“When you first have a period?” Jasper was unusually interested for a teenaged boy, thought Clarke. But they didn’t call alcohol a social lubricant for nothing. 

“Yeah, and it has to be removed for a woman to get pregnant.” Octavia explained. Suddenly her face changed from serious to giddy. She threw her head back and laughed. “OMG, Clarke, do you know what this means?” Clarke was confused but she was used to the Blakes and their mercurial moods by now. 

“What O?” 

“Yeah, what’s so funny?” Jasper asked too. 

“This means my mother meant to have me! I wasn’t just an accident. She must have removed her implant on purpose. Could she have done it?”

Clarke didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t realized that Octavia had worried in that way. She had always assumed that her mother had done it on purpose. “Yeah, it’s a minor thing to remove it. She could have done it with her sewing kit.” She had always wondered how people on the ark managed to obey the rule to have just one kid when it would be so easy to remove the implant. Octavia being Octavia jumped to her feet. “I think that’s probably true, O, that your mother wanted you with all her heart” She agreed, smiling at her friend. “Did you ever doubt that she loved you?” 

“No, I guess not.” The fire was in her voice as she admitted it. “And I never doubted that Bell wanted me. I have been a lucky girl despite it all.” She twirled in a happy dance move. In the back of her mind, Clarke wondered what Bellamy thought about it. Had he ever realized that his mother had done it on purpose? Did he resent that? It certainly helped explain why he resented the Ark and the council rule so much. 

Raven and Finn returned, sitting so that Octavia and Jasper blocked the heat from the bonfire. “What did we miss?” Finn asked, a lock of his hair falling into his eyes in a way that made Clarke itch to brush it off his forehead. 

Monroe and Roma scooted closer to join the group as well. “So, does anyone have any great plans for what we’re going to do after we kick some Grounder ass?” Roma asked. 

Octavia was on a roll. “We’re going to repopulate the Earth!” She stated looking around the group triumphantly. “Clarke, can you remove the implants?” She was heading to the dropship before Clarke even had a chance to reply. 

“Yes, but Octavia, don’t you think…” 

Raven, Roma, Monroe and a few other girls were trailing Octavia as the energetic girl hopped on a stump “Hey, girls meeting in the dropship, now!”: She hollered across the firepit. Every head swung in their direction. “Octavia!” hissed Clarke “I don’t think…” girls were collecting around them and her feet seemed to propel her to the dropship with a mind of their own. 

“Come on Clarke.” Octavia turned her puppy dog eyes face on Clarke “What’s the point of coming back to Earth if we just die here with nothing to show for it? Let’s get serious and make it happen.” Clarke wondered if it was the moonshine doing her thinking because suddenly it made sense to her too. “OK. Monty, I need some seaweed and that antiseptic paste we made up last week. Jasper, bring me some boiling water and a stack of bandages.” If they were going to do this Clarke wanted to do it right. They reached the dropship door. Out of the corner of her eye Clarke saw Miller heading the opposite direction and figured Bellamy was going to be showing up real soon so they better get it done. “OK O, let’s do this.” 

Clarke was setting up her table with her sharpest scalpel and some moonshine to clean it in. It wasn’t a challenging procedure. Most people would hardly bleed but infection was always a real concern. Outside she heard the murmmers grow louder as the news spread around. “Raven, you’re first.” She figured Raven was unlikely to cry at the pain and would set a good example for the rest of the girls. Finn came to the table with her. “Are you sure this is safe?” He asked Clarke as Raven started removing her jacket. 

“Absolutely.” Clarke stated, focusing on washing the area of Raven’s arm that she would cut rather than look at Finn. In her mind she could see him and Raven holding the hands of little girl, and despite herself the child she imagined had her own blond wavy hair. As she lifted the scalpel from outside the noise grew louder. 

“What the fuck is going on here?” Bellamy. And in her mind’s eye that child suddenly had dark curls and freckles and it was holding her own hand.  
“Fuck” echoed Clarke. 

He didn’t have to shove his way through the line because as usual everyone gave him plenty of space. “Clarke! He bellowed “What the F are you doing? This better not be what I just heard it was.” He was standing over her suddenly and she couldn’t help but feel the heat radiating off his form in the small space. But still, she ignored him. 

“Ready Raven?” Raven gave a nod and Clarke positioned the scalpel. 

“Stop!” he yelled again and she had to look up, her hand still positioned.

“Don’t stop.” Raven stated firmly. “Go away Bellamy.” We’ve decided to make babies, not war.” She gave him a challenging stare but Clarke knew a fight was brewing and she put her scalpel down. 

“Bellamy, this is the girls’ choice. We need a future to hope for. Don’t take this away.” She hated that her voice sounded like she was asking him for permission but she couldn’t help but give him her pleading stare. 

His eyes swung from Raven to Clarke. It was all she could do not to back down under his intensity. “I thought you would know better Princess.” He sighed. Turning to the crowd he addressed them in the voice Octavia called his big-brother-knows-best voice. “None of you know what it is like to raise a tiny helpless baby into a strong human being, but I do.” He paused and his gaze rested on Octavia. “It tests everything about you. A baby is a helpless, needy, greedy thing. It sucks your energy. It eats your food. It changes you and your life and you can never go back. You don’t know what you’re asking for.” Clarke could see him in her mind’s eye. He was tall and lean and strong now but she knew he had lived most of his life on 2/3 rations, sharing with Octavia. He had been selfless in a way most of them couldn’t understand. 

He want on and her heart did a little flip flop. “Crap Clarke” she thought “This? Him? Now?” Bellamy looked out over the crowd and she suddenly saw the men she had known all her life reflected in him. Her father who always stood up for what was right. Chancellor Jaha who always put the whole before the individual. “We can hardly feed ourselves. We can hardly defend ourselves. Go back to the fire. Go be young and have fun. We can figure this out when we’re thinking clearly, when we are safe.” A few girls edged away and Octavia slumped a little, losing some of her triumphant pose. 

Clarke saw it and suddenly she knew exactly why she wanted to do this. She didn’t usually give speeches, and she really didn’t like to pick a fight, but this time she felt she had to. She thought of her mother and father and how much they had loved her. In her mind’s eye she saw Octavia and Bellamy’s mother giving her life for Octavia’s. She saw her own mother’s joy when she had come to tell Clarke, in the midst of her own panic “Clarke, you’re not being floated. You’re going to the ground, to live.” 

“It is your choice” she called out to the crowd. Bellamy stiffened beside her but she went on. “We will never know what Bellamy speaks about until we experience it. I’m not going to tell you that you should or should not have your implant out.” She looked at Raven and Finn and thought with a crushing revelation that they were going to do this, whether she was the one to cut it out or they had to do it themselves. Her voice got stronger and she tossed her hair back over her shoulder, standing up even taller. “I don’t think it’s my job to decide one way or another for you. I think every life is sacred. Your parents thought that when they brought you into the world and cared for you and loved you. The Ark certainly thought that when they decided to risk sending us to the ground rather than float us. I don’t think the Ark should have been able to decide for you either.” She saw several of the girls nodding in agreement. “So we start living for ourselves now, today, before the Ark ship arrives and takes the right to decide away from us again.” A mummer of agreement went through the crowd. Most of the young people, boys included, were gathered around now. 

“What about us?” A male voice called from the back. “What choice do we get? What if we don’t want to be fathers?” Bellamy was nodding beside her. Miller looked downright scared. 

Now that Octavia felt Clarke and Raven would stick up for the idea, she jumped to defend it. “If you don’t want to be a father, keep it in your pants.” The finality in her voice struck a chord with the girls and a chorus of “Yeah, you heard her.” rose above the group.

Bellamy gave Clarke a look of tired defeat. “I hope you know what you’re doing Princess.” And shaking his head he stalked off. “Back to your posts.” He growled to the guards milling at the edge of the crowd. Clarke saw him swing a gun that had been leaning against a tree at the edge of the firelight over his shoulder and then he disappeared into the dark. She wasn’t sure she had been expecting his support, but somehow the note of sadness in his eye gave her pause. 

But the moment passed and before she knew it she had a short line. Raven, Monroe, Roma, and about 10 other girls were ready. As each approached her she reminded them that this was permanent and they would be responsible for the outcome. Most nodded in acceptance and submitted their arm for the procedure, but a few girls showed some indecision. “It’s ok,” she counseled, deciding it was best to not push “You can always have it done later. Come see me anytime.” An hour later, 14 girls were contraceptive free. As she prepared to clean up, Octavia stopped her with a hand on her arm. “What about you Clarke? Do you want me to do yours?” 

“Oh, I’m not, um I…” Clarke stumbled a little. What was she going to say? It doesn’t matter because I don’t have anyone now? Visions of Finn rose in her mind but suddenly she didn’t feel her usual longing for him. He was such an idealist. He had scoffed at Bellamy’s description of parenthood but Clarke had a strong feeling that Bellamy was right. None of them knew what they were doing. And then the vision of Finn was replaced by a vision of Bellamy’s strong hands cradling a baby. He would know what to do. He would protect the innocent with his life. She felt as sure of that as she had been that she wanted to live, to survive the battle with the grounders no matter what. And she felt the weight of the new burden she had just placed on him settle over her shoulders too. 

“Come on,” Octavia must have seen something in Clarke’s expression because she began gathering up the discarded implants. “Should we wash and save these?” Back to business. Clarke breathed a sigh of relief. She could handle that, would much prefer to handle that than the big questions swirling around. 

“Yes, who knows how many will change their mind once the first baby is born.” Clarke realized too that some of the burden had been placed on her. She would have to deliver that baby and instruct the parents how to care for it. She’d be treating it when it was sick. A moment of fear stabbed through her. What had she done? Her eyes shifted toward the wall where the dark forest pressed in upon them. Once again she had pushed against Bellamy when she probably should have trusted his judgment. Only time would tell if the 100 were actually ready for this. Until then, she’d have that image of a little curly haired and freckled baby stuck in her head. She smiled at Octavia. “Let’s get some sleep and prepare for tomorrow. First, we have to survive, then we can thrive.”


End file.
